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Monday, March 17, 2008

There are so many products marketed to hair that you don't know where to start and where to end. I am from the school of finding products that are both beneficial to the hair etc. and also not too expensive and that actually work. In my quest for beautiful natural hair, I have for the last two years, constantly tried out different products claiming they are all natural and all that and are supposed to be very good for the hair. Aura makes products that include botanicals like rosemary for the hair. I have one of their conditioners and I like it. It's cooling to the scalp and is good to the hair also. It's called Rosemary Mint conditioner or something like that. I used to look at a girl's web page and she always had nice looking hair and she said that she used Aura Cherry Bark conditioner, but I never tried that one, but will in the future. I know that botanicals like herbs and the like can do good for hair, but finding the right one or the right combination is what is a problem for me. I will find what I believe to be a good conditioner and use it and then either it stops working, or never works from the start. I found some helpful information about certain plants like horsetail and biotin, which are supposed to be good for the hair. Sometimes when I'm purchasing products I try to look for certain things in them, so that even if the product isn't very good, at least it has something beneficial in it. I like to look for Aloe and things like biotin and even silicone, because they usually work for me. As far as taking biotin by mouth, I won't do that again. I once took this as a supplement because all over the Net they touted this as a miracle supplement for both hair growth and hair retention. I took it and after I took it about a few weeks, it made my skin break out. I didn't like that aspect of it at all. I stopped taking it and decided to not take it by mouth anymore. Some vitamins and supplements can be powerful and you have to be careful what you take and how much you take. When I take something I've never taken before I take the minimal dose that I can get away with and still have some kind of results. I do take vitamin supplements everyday and have for as long as I can remember. My mother used to make us kids take vitamins when we were young. She used to give us this liquid type vitamin that tasted awful. I couldn't stand it, but she made us take it anyway. So many products for one head of hair, mine. So my quest continues for the perfect product(s) for my hair.

I recently trimmed the ends of my hair and almost immediately I could feel a difference in how my hair felt. I had been meaning to do it for some time, but couldn't find the time because of my work schedule. Now my hair looks a bit better and feels better to the touch. Those split and uneven ends were not good at all and I'm glad they're gone. I am thinking of a very funny story about something that happened when I was younger, but I think I'll share it another time though. Anyway, today is St. Patrick's Day, so happy St. Patty's Day to everybody, Irish or not. I should have played the lottery and picked 317 as my number. I'm lazy too today, I don't have on my green. I remember when I was in Catholic high school, we always wore something green to school to honor St. Patrick's Day because everybody was Irish that day. Well, back to hair, I still am looking for a product that will tame my hair whenever I want to set it 'and forget it'. I used one product that I thought was just dreadful. I can't even remember the name of the product, but it was to set your hair nevertheless. This product smelled awful and was flaky and didn't live up to its promises on the bottle. Whenever I find the product I will update this post with the name of the product. I'm not an expert on products, but I will say if I like a product or dislike one. I had high hopes for this product and thought it would work, but it didn't. When I took my hair out, it was a mess. A ridiculous mess. I wasted my time and my money. There has to be some good products out there for setting natural hair that don't make the hair look like a jherri curl. I know some people like those types of products that they apply to the hair to make "curls" and it's all good, just not too good for what I have in mind for how I'd like my hair to look.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I've talked a lot on this blog about hair and other things, but haven' discussed the guys. Lord knows I do love you all and haven't forgotten any of you. A well groomed man is something to fatten up a woman's eyes. Being well dressed doesn't hurt either. I always did like a man in a suit with some nice shoes. Casual clothes are good too, but a man in a suit always makes me do a double take. Hubba Hubba, bowing down to the suited gentleman. I don't know if it was the fact that growing up I always saw guys in suits as mysterious or something. I remember when I was a teenager I used to be in a club. Clubs back in the day were the thing. Me and my club sisters always liked to go clubbing with other clubs and my club even gave some dances too. We also had a brother club and the guys were always dressed pretty nice for teenagers. They used to wear gabardine, silken wools, nice shirts and SHOES. Not sneex mind you, and these were teenage boys around 15, 16 & 17. They used to wear Kangol caps too, and that's when they weren't even that popular. I still can remember seeing the guys walking around looking nice and dressed nice. I remember two of the guys who had red Kangol caps and us sisters used to call them the red cap duet. They used to get mad at us for calling them that. What happened to young men like this?? Now I'm not stupid and I know young guys like to be comfortable and the like, and express themselves with their clothing, and I don't have a problem with that, but they should sometimes make an effort to dress up once in a while. I know back in the day when my mother took us kids in town to Center City we had to have on dresses and patent leather shoes and nice socks and gloves. Whatever happened to all that? Our hair was neatly combed and we had to be on our p's & q's. We had to act like little ladies because my mother wouldn't stand for nothing less than that. God rest her soul, that woman is a saint I tell you. I know she would be turning in her grave if she saw me wearing sneex, which I wear all the time for comfort, since I once tore tendons in my foot and still have some problems. My mother didn't own a pair of sneakers and didn't own pants either. Anyway, I'm still paying homage to a suited man and a some muscles doesn't hurt either. Sexy, Sexy. Damn! Woo Hoo! Smacking my lips on hickory chips...That's me being a little cuckoo. See what you suited gentlemen do to me?

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Hair color is something you get from mom and dad. In other words its hereditary. I have naturally dark hair(darkest brown) but have colored my hair throughout the years. It lightens up a little bit in the summer months and I like that too. I used to use Clairol Ultra Blue hair dye back in the day because that was the in thing among my friends in school etc. This particular hair dye was supposed to lighten the hair to a blond shade that then could be further manipulated with a tint to get the color you desired. I always kept a box of this dye around. I would lighten my hair in strategic places since that was the style then. I then went on to discover Henna. This was supposed to be a natural type hair colorant that was beneficial to the hair. I used henna a few times, but didn't find it that great. It used to come in either a box or tin can. It was a powder and you mixed in water to get a paste you then were supposed to apply to your hair. I tried both types, box and can and the results were the same, so so. The color was okay, but I never did see where the conditioning part came in. It was sloppy to use and you had to leave it in your hair for a good while if you wanted to really see the color. The colors were usually darker to red colors. I used to get the brown tones and they didn't make much difference in my hair color as far as I was concerned. When mixed it looked like a bowl of soft mud. It didn't have any unusual smell to it though. You gloped in your head and waited and then was supposed to have nice highlights. I found that it usually dried out my hair a lot, because at the time I was relaxing my hair. People still use this and swear by it. I also heard that beets are good for tinting the hair too. I color the little gray I have in my hair from time to time. I used to let it stay and then got tired of it and began to color it. Most of my gray hairs are towards the front of my hair, on the hairline. Look, I didn't start the movement of dying gray hair I just go along with the program. Gray hair looks awesome on some people. I have seen many women and men with a full head of gray hair that look wonderful. I find I don't look as good with gray hair because I have a somewhat youthful face and it doesn't go good with a lot of gray hair. I sometimes use a color stick, which is great when you're in a hurry and didn't have the time to color the gray. There are all types of hair dyes on the market and they all work pretty good. I one time bought jet black hair dye and colored my entire head of hair. I was washing black soot out of my hair for the longest time. Every time I washed my hair, more dye was released. It was a mess. I promised myself I would never do that again. That dye was a semi-permanent type dye and I thought I looked ridiculous with jet black hair. I like my jet brown hair better. Nowadays when I want color to my hair, I buy a wig. I can change it in a snap if I happen to not like it. I have posted photos of Jennifer Lopez & Star Jones Reynolds above because they have what I believe is beautifully colored hair. Both of these women show how to wear a lighter hair color that compliments their style and skin tones. Nuff said.

I am always forever plucking my eyebrows. I like doing this because I like my eyebrows to be perfectly arched at all times. If I could, I'd pluck them everyday. I was plucking them yesterday while holed up doing jury duty and I got quite a few looks while I plucked away. There's nothing mystical about plucking eyebrows or anything else for that matter. I sometimes pluck a wayward facial hair from time to time also. I'll get one really long ugly squiggly hair on my chin every so often and I got to get rid of it. I used to have very thick uneven eyebrows when I was younger and didn't know what to do with it. I take that from my very hairy grandfather, whose eyebrows looked like you could comb them. I recall one time long ago when I was around 15 or 16 years of age and I was outside talking with a good friend of mine and she looked up at my eyebrows and frowned. She went on to ask me why did I shave my eyebrows the way I did. I didn't shave them at all because that's just the way they grew in, wild, untamed and uneven. I think this friend of mine made me want to have nice eyebrows. We were always good buddies in school and also at home. I saw this person about two years ago and we talked for a long time and I gave her my number, but she never got back to me. She was always a nice person to me and I like her to this very day. Hope to see her again soon. Anyway I think she kind of inspired me to think about my eyebrows and to this very day I pluck away. I love plucking other people's eyebrows too you know. Man, woman, come one, come all and I'll pluck your eyebrows for you. Ha Ha. I even convinced my daughter to let me pluck her eyebrows one time. I had been eying her very thick eyebrows forever and wanted to pluck them for her badly. She was very afraid to have them plucked and wouldn't let me do them for the longest time. I begged and begged for a few years until finally she allowed me one time to pluck them. Well, she was so impressed with the look that she is a devoted "plucker" like me. Hell, her eyebrows look better than mine! I have converted a few people to plucking their eyebrows to clean them up and let them look nicer. That initial fear of pain soon is replaced with wanting to have the eyebrows looking good. I started shaving my eyebrows with a straight razor for the longest time because I was a bit frightened of the pain that plucking would cause. My oldest sister was also a devoted "plucker" and one day she came to see the family and noticed my very shaved up looking eyebrows and told me that I should pluck out the hairs instead of shaving because I might permanently damage the area around the eyebrows with frequent shaving. I didn't listen to her right away and continued shaving my eyebrows for some time until one day I was looking in the mirror after washing my face and the area around my eyebrows looked like it was covered with fine sand. After my face dried the area looked plain awful, like I had used a grater on the area. There were little bumps and nicks and the like and I got scared and decided to give in and start to pluck them instead of shaving them. I let my eyebrows grow in completely and waited a few more weeks for the area to heal completely. There was some pain, but after I finished and and redness went away I was blown away. I really liked the look and have been happily plucking away for years now. I sometimes over pluck and have to wait for them to grow back in and then repluck to get the look that I want. Thick eyebrows are fine for men, but in my opinion, not a good thing for the ladies. Clean up your eyebrows ladies and instantly your face will look a little better.

Monday, March 3, 2008

I always had a healthy interest into hair and anything that would create healthier hair, skin or nails, since these three things are what people see first when they meet or see you. I have a particular interest in skincare because so many people, both women and men, are putting so many things on and into their skin. The Botox craze has me continually puzzled. It costs a bundle and nobody really knows the long term risks of using this sort of thing. Also, the way a person looks when they have just gotten an injection of botox is very odd looking. Their faces look puffy and unnatural. Sometimes I will be watching a television program only to see someone I haven't seen in a while up on the screen and immediately I'm wondering why they look so different. I guess to each his own. I realize that in this youth driven society, people will do whatever it takes to keep their youthful looks and figures. Now I'm from the old school advice that I received from my mother to always look good, but don't believe I am ready to buy into the botox craze. You know my mother always wore a little makeup at all times. She always used to tell me that you never know who you are going to see when you go out. She would say that you might just see somebody you haven't seen in a while and you don't want to look bad. Even in her later years, she was concerned with how she looked. She was an incredible person. Anyway, I never leave the house without lipstick. I can pass on the other stuff like foundation, powder, mascara and blush, but not on lipstick. I feel naked without a little something on my mouth. I try out all kinds of lipsticks all the time and currently am liking a nice red shade that I recently bought. I never liked red lipstick or nail polish, but wear it occasionally now. I once got a make over at one of the counters at Macy's some time back and didn't like what I saw. The lady gave me some tips on what colors that would suit my skin tone, but I didn't like the way I looked with a full face of makeup. I love the Chanel makeup counter at Macy's and always stop by to see what they have new. I used to use a facial cream that worked like a charm from Chanel, but I think it's discontinued now. The last time I cruised the Chanel counter a very nice lady there gave me some samples of the products and gave me an invitation to show they were having, but work schedules did not allow me to attend and I'm sorry I couldn't go. I like makeup and need to learn how to apply it correctly. I remember one time I applied some makeup to my face thinking I had it down pat because I had read an article in a magazine showing how to apply makeup. I have the photo of that makeup job and will one day post it. I looked like Bozo the Clown. Ha Ha. I was way to heavy handed with the blush and eye shadow. Funny funny is all I say about how I looked and maybe that's why I don't use a lot of makeup today. I've posted a photo of Bozo the Clown above so you can see how I thought I looked.

I honestly would like to know when hair haters will give it a rest. I guess never. Seems like a few hair haters have all the time in the world to be on the internet and wreak havoc on sites and all. I don't know what they get from their actions, but they are to be pitied. Anytime you find someone who is so disgruntled with themselves and their family and friends etc. that it hits to the core of who they are, you get a hater. I have always wondered why some people are this way. Maybe it's a way of calming their own fears and anxieties that make them want to do underhanded things like put up fake hair websites with the hopes that people will flock to their convoluted websites so that they can show just how infantile they really are. I know people who are so infantile and who hate themselves so much that they are always putting things up on the net for shock value. Instead of getting the help they so desperately need, they instead are hate filled mongers. The truth is that hate stems from fear. Sometimes if we as people would take a look at ourselves and really have some sort of introspective thoughts about ourselves and our lives, the world would turn on it's axis the way God intended it to. Hating someone accomplishes NOTHING. The only thing that hate creates in someone from my opinion is a person who is sad, lonely and pathetic. I know people like this. A trip to your local church for a good confession might help some. Negative thoughts and hate will never produce the results you think they will. Hate will ultimately destroy the one who hates. This is something that came to mind and I thought I would share it with my readers.

WELCOME

Welcome to my blog page. Look around and check out some helpful information about afro styled hair. Even if you don't have your hair in it's natural state, still enjoy this blog. I am concentrating this blog mostly to natural hair (afro, curly, wavy, nappy etc..). Whatever type of hair you have is beautiful! This page will attest to that statement. There are certain hair typing systems on the net, but I'm not really sure what type my hair is, maybe 4A & B and some 3C, if you are familiar with this typing system. All I know it's nappy and I love it! Enjoy!

Good Links To Check Out

GENERAL SENSIBLE HAIR CARE

These are some sensible hair care tips I have learned through trial and error. Always keep your hair clean and conditioned. Moisturize as much as possible. I do conditioner wash (CW) from time to time, but I still like the feel of freshly shampooed hair. I do not use any type of grease on my hair, only oils, moisturizers and conditioners. Do not wear your hair in any tightened styles (eg. pony tails etc.) for too long. Wear your hair loose some days or in a nice braided or twisted style. Be careful though when you wear your hair out to moisturize and condition even more, since wearing your hair out exposes it to the elements. Dry hair is a special problem for our type of hair (3A-4C). I try to combat dryness on my hair with oils. I also like glycerine in the summer months to pull moisture into my hair. It can be a bit "greasy", but provides needed moisture. Winter months can be particularly trying on 3A-4C hair. I drink lots of water year round to properly "moisturize" from the inside out. I find that either twists, braids or wearing my hair back loosely can help in the winter months. A multi-vitamin every day can help also. I have been trying out some things ie. flaxseed oil & vitamin E capsules around the edges of my hair. Edges of hair always seems to be a problem for most women. I always use an oil capsule for my edges so they don't thin out too much. Castor oil on my ends to keep them moist and provide shielding from split ends. A good trim every so often is very important. Use your own discretion on when to trim, as hair grows different on every head. Lastly, love what God gave you. Embrace every part of yourself and love you.

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This Blog was created to showcase Afro hair and all good things about it. I also created this blog so that I can put up tips and helpful information concerning hair and in the near future skincare and other things that concern health and beauty in general . Comments are welcome as they pertain to either a specific post or question about anything on my blog. Please be advised that comments with links or derogatory comments will NOT be posted.